Statutory sick pay: how much it is, who gets it, and how mental health fits in

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Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is £123.25 a week or 80 percent of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks when you are too ill to work, and time off with stress, anxiety or low mood counts in the same way as time off with a physical illness. That is the whole scheme in one sentence, and the rest of this piece just unpacks it: how the amount is worked out, who qualifies, what you have to give your employer and when, and what happens if you are not eligible or the 28 weeks run out.

One honest boundary before we start. This is a guide to what SSP is and where to check the detail, not advice about your contract or your rights, which belong with Citizens Advice, ACAS or your HR team. And because a period off sick is one half of a journey that ends with going back, how a phased return to work actually works covers the other end, for when you get there. Everything factual here is drawn from the live GOV.UK guidance and the NHS.

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What is statutory sick pay?

Statutory sick pay is the legal minimum your employer must pay you while you are off work too ill to work, whatever the illness is. It is paid by your employer rather than the government, it arrives the same way as your normal wages, weekly or monthly, and tax and National Insurance are deducted as usual.

The word statutory matters, because it means a floor rather than a ceiling. You cannot be paid less than SSP, but plenty of employers pay more through their own sick pay scheme, sometimes called an occupational or company scheme, so the single most useful thing you can do before worrying about the SSP numbers is check your employment contract or staff handbook. If your employer runs a scheme that pays full or half salary for a period, that applies to you before SSP becomes the story.

There is also no separate system for mental health. Being too unwell to work because of stress, anxiety or low mood sits inside exactly the same rules as any physical condition, the same pay, the same paperwork and the same fit note process. If the harder part for you right now is the decision to stop rather than the mechanics of the pay, how to get signed off work with stress walks through that conversation properly.

How much is statutory sick pay?

SSP is £123.25 a week or 80 percent of your normal weekly earnings, whichever of the two is lower, and it can be paid for up to 28 weeks. You are paid it for all the full days you are off sick that you would normally have worked, and your employer works out your normal earnings using your average weekly pay over an eight week period. If you only started the job recently and do not yet have eight weeks of pay behind you, you still qualify, and your employer can tell you how they will work it out.

Two details worth knowing. If you have more than one job, you may be able to get SSP from each employer separately. And if you think the amount landing in your account is wrong, GOV.UK's route is to raise it with your employer first and ask for their reasoning, then to contact HMRC's Statutory Payment Disputes Team if it is still not resolved.

It is also worth being straight about the size of the number. For most people SSP is a serious drop from normal pay, and money pressure is itself one of the things the NHS lists among common causes of stress, which is a hard loop to be in when the reason you are off work is your mental health in the first place. Naming that loop does not fix it, but it is a reason to check your contract for a company scheme, to find out what you are actually entitled to rather than assuming, and to take the money side to Citizens Advice if it is becoming a problem of its own.

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Who can get it, and what you need to do

To qualify for SSP you must be classed as an employee, have done some work for your employer, and have been ill for at least one full working day. Agency workers may also be entitled to it. You will not qualify if you have already received the maximum 28 weeks, or if you are getting Statutory Maternity Pay.

The practical steps are lighter than most people fear. You need to tell your employer you are unable to work by whatever deadline they set, or within seven days if they have not set one, and telling them late can cost you some of your SSP, so a short message on the first day is the safe habit. For the first seven days of any absence, including weekends and bank holidays, you do not need any medical evidence at all, you simply confirm to your employer that you have been off sick, which is called self-certification, and if they want it in writing there is a standard form for it, the SC2, on GOV.UK.

Only once you have been ill for more than seven days in a row does a fit note come into it. You can get one from a GP or hospital doctor, a registered nurse, an occupational therapist, a pharmacist or a physiotherapist, it can be digital or printed, and there is no charge for one if you have been ill for more than seven days when you ask. The practical detail of getting one, including doing it without a face to face appointment, is covered in how to get a fit note from your GP.

If you are not eligible, or your SSP is ending

If you do not qualify for SSP, or your 28 weeks are running out while you are still unwell, GOV.UK points to Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance as the routes to look at, and your employer must give you a form called an SSP1 to support that application. They are required to send it within seven days of your first day off if you do not qualify at all, and on a set timetable if your SSP is ending. Benefits are a system with its own rules, so for anything beyond checking the GOV.UK pages themselves, Citizens Advice is the right place to take your specific situation.

The bigger point sits underneath the forms. If you are far enough into an absence that the 28 weeks are a live question, you are carrying a long illness and a shrinking income at the same time, and that is a lot for one person to hold. The health side deserves support in its own right, from your GP, from NHS Talking Therapies, which you can refer yourself to in England without going through a GP, and from whoever you trust enough to keep in the loop. Wobble exists for the moments in between, and its therapists work to the Wobble response framework, a structured framework built for short, practical, single-response support, which suits the weeks when you need something helpful today rather than a course of anything.

When it is more than money

The NHS is clear about the threshold for asking for help with stress: see a GP if you are struggling to cope, or if the things you are trying yourself are not helping. Not when you have collapsed, when you are struggling. If your sleep, appetite, concentration or mood have been affected for a few weeks, that is a GP conversation worth having regardless of what is happening with your pay, and if you ever feel unsafe, the crisis routes at the top of this page are there around the clock.

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Quick summary

Statutory sick pay is £123.25 a week or 80 percent of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks, with time off for your mental health treated exactly the same as any physical illness. To get it you need to be an employee, have done some work for your employer, and have been ill for at least one full working day, and you need to tell your employer by their deadline. The first seven days need no medical evidence, a fit note is needed after more than seven days in a row, and many employers pay more than the statutory floor, so check your contract before assuming the minimum. If you are not eligible or your SSP is ending, GOV.UK covers Universal Credit and ESA, and Citizens Advice can help with your specific situation. The numbers here are the live GOV.UK figures at the time of writing, and GOV.UK is always the place to confirm the current rate.

Sources and further reading

• GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) (gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay)
• GOV.UK: Taking sick leave (gov.uk/taking-sick-leave)
• GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay employee's statement of sickness (SC2)
• NHS: Stress (nhs.uk/mental-health)
• NHS Talking Therapies self-referral (England): nhs.uk/talk
• Citizens Advice (citizensadvice.org.uk), for advice on your specific situation
• Samaritans: 116 123 (samaritans.org)
• Shout: text 85258 (giveusashout.org)

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from a qualified medical professional. If stress or low mood is affecting your daily life, please speak to your GP or contact NHS 111. If you are in crisis, please call 999 or go to A&E.